Thirteen people, including 10 armed Islamic extremists, were killed and eight others injured in the previous 48 hours in Algeria, said AFP, quoting local press Sunday.

A high school student was killed and three others wounded on Saturday in Haizer, near Bouira, 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of Algiers, when armed assailants riddled the van in which they were travelling with machine gun fire, said the agency, adding that newspapers attributed the attack to the hardline Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC).

Also on Saturday, Algerian security forces killed 10 armed extremists in a raid near Batna, 430 kilometers east of the capital, the daily Ech Chourouk reported, adding that troops had used helicopters and missiles in the sweep.

Meanwhile, El-Khabar daily reported that a soldier was killed Friday and five others were injured when a bomb exploded near Skikda area, 500 kilometers east of Algiers.

The daily said that bomb was planted by extremists.

More than 100 people have been killed in clashes since the start of the month, according to a toll compiled from Algerian media reports, AFP said.

Algeria's civil war broke out in 1992 after the military stepped in to prevent the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) from winning democratic elections – Albawaba.com